Drew Estate Gatsby Luxury Flake

I sampled a bit of this blend recently. In the tin, it resembles the 100g tins of OGS: long flakes folded up. The similarity to OGS continued with its appearance, its moisture, and how it loads. Its similar. Even the flavor is similar, but it has a bit more going on. OGS has a more mild flavor compared to Gatsby Luxury Flake. It's much more bold in flavor: shades of fruity, and plenty of roundness. Its character almost reminded me of a Sirrah wine: its flavor is symphonic. There is a lot going on, but it all works in concert. It also reminded me a bit of Dunhill Flake, but again, is a bit more bold. Pretty good on its own (though, with a bit of perique, this blend would be amazing). The only thing I dislike is the name. "Old Sport Flake" would be much more fitting...

A nice Virginia/Cavendish flake in the old tradition. It's very similar to Capstain blue and, to a lesser degree, Orlik Golden Sliced (sans the Pèrique). Mild to medium, it is not as falvorsome as Dunhill flake (less sweet, less fruity), and if pressed too hard it may lead to tongue bite. The flake comes in a long, single strand, easy to break and not too moist. A good Virginia smoke for the early evening, perhaps with a sip of Earl Grey.

Of all the Drew Estate blends, this is the only one that caught my interest. I smoke predominantly Virginia or Virginia based blends, so I thought I'd give this one a try. Frankly, I was pleasantly surprised. I heard that most of their blends are rather lackluster so I wasn't expecting much. What I got- a GREAT Danish Virginia flake that I will definitely smoke again. It has a very satisfying creamy sweetness that has surprising depth. If you're a fan of Virginia tobaccos, I highly recommend you give this a try.

****EDIT****

Perhaps I was a little too excited upon first trying this to hold off reviewing until after I had smoked it more. I loved my first bowl, but have yet to replicated the "wow" factor I experienced upon first smoking it.

Downgrade to 3 stars. Still worth exploring but not extraordinary.

One of the things I try not to do is compare tobaccos as in most cases tobaccos are not made to be a "copy of" despite the ingredients. With that being said, this is a a nice Virginia based flake. Opening the tin and taking a whiff, it has a really good aroma and the right moisture content for my preference. I tried it both ways (folded and rubbed) and prefer the rubbed version. Easy to ignite, and first taste is smooth, buttery and creamy. Just a little bite, but nothing major. The more I get into it, the flavors really come out. I consider this to be a medium-bodied tobacco, that is really satisfying. The room note is nice and inviting. When I smoked it in my cob, I noticed it added a lot more sweetness than in my Briars. It stands on it's own merits and is a constant in my flake rotation.

I didn't like this blend at first. After a long day, I sat down to a pipe of this with a glass of scotch. Big mistake. It was way too mild and smoked very hot. So I put this tin away for almost a year. Today on a whim I decided to give it another try at lunch. I let a couple pinches dry out for several hours, and what I got knocked my socks off. Still a very delicate flavor, though by no means as mild as some I've smoked, but it was absolutely wonderful for a light afternoon smoke. Lots of Virginia sweetness, and the room note alone is addictive. It's very easy on the nicotine. It would be a great all-day smoke. Turns out this is great stuff, I just didn't know how to appreciate it. Lesson learned.

I always look forward to smoking flakes, I love'em. They are simply my favorite type of pipe baccy. For some reason I was expecting something different with this one, but, lo! what I got instead was a flake that I've already smoked before.

This is not a bad thing. I'll explain. When I opened this baby up, I thought, hey, this is Solani Silver Flake. Looked much the same, smelled much the same, and it smoked much the same. In fact, I felt Gatsby was so close to SSF that I pulled out my tin of Solani and fired up a bowl along with the Gatsby. I was hard pressed to tell the difference. Now, why isn't this a bad thing? SSF cost twice as much (or more) than Gatsby. For someone on a budget, you can pretty much get the same blend for half the cost. That's why this flake is of interest.

I really like SSF, and, honestly, Gatsby's right there with that one, so, I heartily recommend Gatsby Flake, especially for someone who's on a budget. I'll give this one a strong 3 three stars (3.75).

Good Flake!

Keep on Piping!

I stopped by the Club the other day and a fellow friend/club member, let’s call him “Big L” had this tin that was dated December, 2014. Apparently, Drew Estate is out of the pipe tobacco business as their eight blends are no longer in production. When this happened, I have no idea. I smoked two nice size bowls of this in my claw Meerschaum and found it to be a mild, smooth, low nicotine smoke with a faint topping of berries, at least that is what was described by the other pipe club members who also tried this blend. The description says fruit/citrus, we will let it go at that. Not a bad smoke, is it one that I would search out, no but if you can find a tin of this or two, at a reasonable price you should give it a try. Thanks again, “Big L”.

I enjoyed this blend . It’s got a litter sweetness to it, and a nice mellow flavor . burns ok whith out the need for exesive relights, don’t remember any bite

The particular tin I was gifted with was on the very dry side of smokable (i.e. it didn't quite need rehydration); perhaps that's why the fruit & sweetness noted by many other reviewers were very muted. The tobacco flakes shredded at the slightest touch, and burned on the fast side, although not to the point of unpleasantness. Despite the above caveats, the resulting smoke, if a bit on the generic side, was a moderate, mellow, and pleasant VA. 2 1/2 stars, bumped to 3 considering the tin condition